diagnose my bowel disorder

Factual Questions
1

A word of warning, this isn’t for the faint-hearted.

So my bowels do strange things occasionally. I’ll be minding my own business, when suddenly I’ve got horrible abdominal cramps, gas, and diarrhea(sp?). It really really sucks, it’s quite uncomfortable, and if I don’t get to a bathroom immediately, well, I have to get to a bathroom immediately. I vividly remember the time I had to crap on the side of the road because I was deep in suburbia late at night, and there were no open gas stations or stores for miles.

I want to know why this happens, because I can’t figure it out. My mother has colitis, but I don’t think that’s my problem because she’d run to the bathroom several times a day, and this problem only happens twice a week or so. People have suggested a number of foods that may not agree with me, like cheese or greasy foods, or bacon, etc. But I cannot work out a pattern.

greasy foods- no, I remember many times that I have eaten greasy food and not gotten the runs.
cheese/dairy products- I eat cheese and yogurt almost daily, and this doesn’t happen daily.
bacon- maybe, because I remember times when I have eaten bacon and this has happened, and I can’t remember eating it when it hasn’t happened, but I haven’t always eaten bacon when this happens
caffeine- yes, caffeine does this to me, but it happens a lot when I haven’t had any coffee or soda (and I have to drink a lot of coffee for this to happen)

Also, it almost always happens when I go out to eat and eat too much (ditto for Thanksgiving and Christmas) but as with the foods above, it also happens when I haven’t overeaten. Someone suggested that I might have an odd food allergy, to an additive or something that’s in many types of food, which is why I can’t work out a pattern. I don’t have the money to go see an allergist, though.

FWIW, I just had ziti w/ tomato sauce, onions, spinach, and green beans. And prunes. That’s all I’ve eaten in the last 5 hours, and I just had to run to the bathroom. And it’s not the type of runs you get from too much fiber (believe me, I really like prunes, and often eat too many, and then I just get the runs, no cramping or gas.) Does anyone know what’s wrong with me? Or does this happen to a lot of people, and I should just quit my bitchin?

2

When I eat nuts I have to rush to the nearest can, sit there cradling myself nearly in tears, stamping my feet on the floor, venting terrible diarhea, flatulence, PAIN, and so forth. I’m sweating, heart’s beating erratically, etc. And after twenty minutes of this incredible hell… it’s gone. It’s out of my system.

I only diagnosed this recently, as it happened too infrequently for me to really consider.

Does this describe what happens to you?

3

That’s exactly what happens, but I can’t say that one food or another does it. Sometimes it’s a turkey sandwhich, sometimes it’s bacon and eggs, sometimes it’s ziti. But I hate it and don’t want it to happen anymore.

4

Sometimes I have the same problem, and in my case I think that various herbs and spices might be the cause, especially pepper. Eliminating pepper from my diet has really helped.

5

Sounds a lot like Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

6

yeah I’ve wondered it was IBS, but I thought that that was constipation, not diarrhea. According to that website, it can be both. However, as with the colitis, I don’t know if it happens often enough to be a disorder like that or if it’s just a food that I’m eating.

7

Prunes? Well no wonder, a noted laxative.

8

I agree it doesn’t sound like colitis. It could be IBS, but I personally don’t think that’s a helpful diagnosis. IBS is what you diagnose when you’ve ruled out everything else, and it’s mostly just a way for a doctor to say “I don’t know what you have” without actually having to say that. Treatment for IBS addresses psychological or emotional issues that may be causing problems in addition to the GI symptoms.

Could it be lactose intolerance? Yogurt and cheese are mostly lactose-free, so your daily consumption of those is not necessarily telling. How often do you drink milk? Do you put milk in coffee?

Food allergy is possible. It can be hard to find your offending agent because they can have delayed reactions. You could start keeping a food diary, recording day and time of everything you eat and drink, along with day and time of your episodes. After each episode, look at what you’ve eaten over the prior two days. See if there are any common triggers.

Has this been going on for years? months? weeks? Some infections can hang around for many weeks to months to cause occasional problems. Have you travelled out of the country in the last year?

I’ll let you know if I think of other likely possibilities. I’m not going into the non-likely possibilities, because there are dozens of them, and there would be no way to figure those out without going to a doctor, which I assume you are trying to avoid.

Now, back to studying for my 2nd year med school GI pathology exam tomorrow morning. (really)